Nebraska is hiring New England Patriots director of pro personnel Patrick Stewart as the football program's new general manager, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Wednesday.
Current Nebraska general manager Sean Padden — who oversaw top recruiting classes in this cycle in high school recruiting and in the NCAA transfer portal — will move to a new role of assistant AD for strategic intelligence, sources told Thamel. Padden's role will include ties to the salary cap, contract negotiations and analytics, while Stewart will run the personnel department.
Under second-year head coach Matt Rhule, Nebraska finished 7-6 last season, capping off its year with a 20-15 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Cornhuskers were 3-6 in the Big Ten.
In New England, Stewart's departure comes at a time in which the Patriots are in transition under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. The hiring of Vrabel has had a ripple effect on the front office with the addition of vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who had worked with Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans for five seasons (2018 to 2022).
The Patriots' personnel department is still led by executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who had tapped Stewart as director of pro personnel last year. Sam Fioroni had served as the Patriots' assistant director of pro personnel in 2024. Others on staff could now also be eyed for a promotion or new role.
Stewart, who graduated from Ohio State, began his professional career in the college ranks at Ohio State (2000-2004), Western Carolina (2005) and Temple (2006) before breaking into the NFL with the Patriots in 2007 as a scouting assistant. He then split time between college and pro scouting with the organization over
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